I have a feeling that I make a very good friend, and I'm a good mother, and a good sister, and a good citizen. I am involved in life itself - all of it. And I have a lot of energy and a lot of nerve.

How paramount the future is to the present when one is surrounded by children.

Twinkies are more natural than most TV-interview shows.

If your culture doesn't like geeks, you are in real trouble.

It's a cliche, but true, that writing is intensely solitary and at times really lonely. I sit in one room and talk to squirrels and blue jays all day.